The Sleepytime Solution
by Cara meli
Summary: Oh, for the love of sleep! Or of a certain brunette. Set after season 8 finale
1. Chapter 1

Sheldon is not one to toss and turn in bed when he can't fall asleep; he has his mind for that. Whenever nights give him grief, he lets his head do the exercises while his body remains still on his bed, waiting for exhaustion and sleep to catch up. He recites pi to a thousand places, solves problems only geniuses have the ability to conceive, or imagines himself running like The Flash to the Grand Canyon and back until he falls into a dreamless sleep.

Or at least that's what he likes to believe he does, because his roommate thinks, or rather knows, otherwise.

In all their years together, Leonard can count in one hand the number of times he slept peacefully when Sheldon has trouble sleeping. It's like the roommate agreement has, aside from the explicit provisions favoring Sheldon, a lot of other implied sufferings he have to endure. Not that these continue to bother him, Sheldon is his best friend after all and they have been in that place for too long, but there are times when he wishes for just a little bit of mercy from the anxiety Sheldon unwittingly shares with him.

"Sheldon, are you doing the Morse Code using your head on our wall?" Leonard asks, speaking loudly through the wall between his room and Sheldon's.

"Oh good, you got it," a distressed Sheldon says. "Brain acrobatics are not working, Leonard, I have to move so I'd get tired and fall asleep."

"Really," Leonard remarks, "have they ever worked before? Cause I have eight years to prove that they didn't."

Sheldon lets out a sigh, loud enough for him to hear in the other room, and then continues making the annoying, tapping sound.

"Sheldon, stop banging your head on the wall!"

"I can't, Leonard. I've been sleep-deprived for three days, I need to sleep."

Unable to control himself any longer, Leonard gets out of bed and makes his way to the other room where he finds Sheldon standing and using his already reddish forehead to make dots and dashes on their divider wall.

"Don't you think I know that? Your sleep deprivation is affecting me, too. And, may I point out that you are not the only one with relationship troubles here? It has only been three days, Sheldon, and for me to be in the proper condition to win Penny back and maybe be of help to you and Amy, I need to sleep."

Sheldon stops and turns to the smaller physicist. "You're right. I apologize. " he says as he moves to the other side of the room, and starts banging his head on the wall there. "I should do this here so you can sleep. Good night, Leonard-by the way, that is the message I'm trying to send you through Morse Code. It is quite difficult to do dashes with one's forehead so it may not be clear and I don't want you to get the wrong message."

"The wrong message like 'I really want you to sleep but I can't sleep so let's share the burden," Leonard answers dryly.

"Yes. That wouldn't be correct at all, Leonard. Now, go to sleep and refresh that brain of yours, you'll understand Morse better tomorrow," he says and gives Leonard a tired smile.

Leonard turns his head to one side and raises his arms in surrender. "With any luck, you'll bang your head a little too strongly and then, instead of sleeping, you'll just lose consciousness. Problem solved," he mutters under his breath and walks out.

After seven minutes more of code head-banging, Sheldon seems to have come to his senses. "This is silly," he says as he changes out of his pajamas.

Amy is probably asleep already, he tells himself, but he really needs to settle this right now. And although he agreed to give her time apart, their separation is causing him his focus. It keeps raising his anxiety levels and, this time, it is not productive but extremely debilitating. He misses her and he knows she misses him, too. So, he decided not to stretch their agony any further.

That is how he ended there. In the middle of the night, approaching door 314, listening to an odd sound coming somewhere inside her building, and gathering the courage to lift his hand and knock as he had done many times before. He lifts his right hand slowly and proceeds with the action.

But, before his knuckles even touch the wooden door, he stops and then bows his head dejectedly. The sound becomes clearer to him as it plays louder, as _she_ plays louder. Apparently like him, Amy is awake and, from the sounds of it, is having as bad a night as he's having.

The music from her harp is awfully slow and sad that Sheldon instantaneously loses the energy and the courage to face her. "Everbody hurts," she sings, her voice breaking. He stands in front of her door, waiting for her to continue singing; she does not, as if she too has lost the energy to continue. She nonetheless proceeds to play the rest of the song.

He feels the hurt and sadness in her music so he halts and sighs. "I'm sorry, you're right. I'll give you space," he whisphers, as if she's in front of him. He steps a little bit away, literally giving space.

But, instead of walking away, Sheldon merely goes to the left side of her door. He sits down beside it and proceeds to hug his knees with both arms, bringing them to the level of his chin. He closes his eyes as he feels her harp music soothe him somehow, the thought of her playing just a few feet away bringing him a sense of relief and comfort.

"Just a few minutes," he says.

Soon, the minutes turn to hours and the night to day, as sleep finally caught up with Sheldon: not with him lying still on his bed, or banging his head against the wall, but with him, a boyfriend, meekly sitting outside his girlfriend's door.

 _My apologies for grammatical lapses; I'm afraid my English is getting rusty. Reviews are greatly appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

Whoever made that bed must be crazy, Sheldon's hazy mind ponders. The mattress is not only rock hard, it is grainy, too. He moves his hand to where he imagines the corners of the bed must be and frowns, failing to find one. It appears he is on a borderless, solid, rough bed. And a very rough one at that, like it's a carpeted floor or something.

He opens his eyes slowly and reality comes flooding back to his senses: it is the floor and he is the crazy one for sleeping on it, and not even in his proper sleeping attire. "Oh, dear lord!" he mutters, checks his watch, and scampers out of her apartment building.

He finds Leonard at their place already preparing for work.

"Where have you been?" his roommate inquires.

He lowers his head, careful to hide his telltale lying tics. "You know, just getting fresh air in the morning."

"Outside the apartment building?" Leonard continues.

"Yes."

"And, you went out like that?"

"Yes. Why? Did you expect me to get out in the morning wearing my pajamas?"

"Well, no. It just looks like you slept on your usual attire."

Sheldon sighs. He is not going to admit where he's been. "Leonard, that's crazy. And, for your information, this is how people usually get fresh air: outside of their apartment buildings and not in their pajamas."

"First of all, that is not crazy. It's merely an observation. And, second of all, you are not usual people," Leonard shrugs, "at least it looks like you managed to get some rest. Good job, Sheldon, with whatever it is you're doing, and hurry up, unless you want to take the bus to work."

He does feel rested, Sheldon realizes, but resolves that the activities of the previous night should not be repeated because he respects Amy's wishes for a time off. If only he can do something similar for her and, in some way, relieve the hurt she's feeling during this period.

The nights have definitely been the hardest for Sheldon since that Skype call, the days less so since there's work to keep his mind occupied. But, without Amy to share his discoveries of the day with, work has also started to feel bland.

He sneaks a peek at her lab come lunch time. As usual, he finds her busy examining a specimen under the microscope. He notes how much paler her skin has become, the frown lines on her forehead deeper, and her shoulder more hunched. But, she has on her face a focused look that reflected her dedication to science that Sheldon has always admired.

He gets his cellphone out and types, "I miss you so much." He stares at the screen for a long time and then goes on to delete it.

"I love you," he types again.

Then hits delete.

"Don't forget to eat lunch."

Delete.

In the end, he settles for a link to a magazine article on the importance of regular meals to one's mental acuity and productivity, and sends it through an email blast. He surveys her lab through his concealed spot in the corridor and sees her Ipad in one corner. Something on the device makes him smile. He takes one last look at her before heading back to his own office.

The woman to whom the email is actually meant for raises her head from the microscope the moment Sheldon is out of sight, missing him by just a few seconds. She turns to her Ipad, stares longer than necessary at her wallpaper and heaves a deep breath. She smiles nonetheless, remembering the events of that prom night, and goes on to check her inbox.

She sees another one of Sheldon's email blast. It's odd, she thinks, because he usually does not send such mid-day, or midweek for that matter. This one is uncharacteristically off-scheduled. And, perfectly-timed too, as it is already lunch and she has not yet taken a break. She looks around and finds nobody.

Amy is, of course, smart. She also knows him very well and knows that there are circumstances that fit together a little too consistently to be mere coincidence. "Lunch it is," she says as she walks out of her lab to fetch Penny and Bernie, her skin now with a hint of blush, her face with the slight radiance of a smile, and her shoulders straighter and a little more confident than before.

And thus another day passes without them having a direct contact. But, however they manage to cope in the company of work and friends in the day, night comes inevitably and brings with it more challenges and reminders of what or who they are missing.

"I will not do it," Sheldon says rhythmically as he taps his bongos that night. "Will not do it, will not do it." Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Oh for Christ' sake, Sheldon, just do it," Leonard pleads through their wall.

"Leonard doesn't even know what it is but asks me to do it." Tap. Tap. Tap. He continues, moving his head left and right in the process.

Leonard storms off to Sheldon's room. "Sheldon!" he screams and steals the bongos from him. "You want sleepytime tea?" he asks, calming down a little after seeing his deranged expression.

"I can't," Sheldon answers from his bed.

"Why not?"

"Reminds me too much of Amy."

"Bongos remind you of Amy," he points out.

"Yes. That, too. But at least it has the potential of exhausting me to sleep. Sleepytime tea can't."

Leonard lets out an exasperated sigh. "You are exhausting me and not to sleep. Can you please, please try to sleep quietly?"

"I am trying."

"And failing," his roommate retorts, pointing to the Bongos. "Let me put it this way, if you don't stop playing bongos tonight, I will call your mother."

"Not fair, Leonard, not fair," Sheldon comments as Leonard leaves his room.

"Will not do it" Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Sheldon continues his earlier chant, this time making clicking noise with his tongue. "Will not do it. Will not do it." Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

An hour later, the words out of Sheldon's mouth changed.

"I did it," he says, his head moving from left to right, expressing disapproval with himself. As with the previous night, he finds himself seated beside his girlfriend's door. "Well, I think it's safe to say that I could add hypocrisy to the list of my admirable traits," he castigates himself. "Oh, look at that. I blurted out sarcasm."

Three minutes in and Amy still has not played her harp. Sheldon realizes that there is actually no guarantee that she will play even if she's still sad. Last night must have been just a coincidence and he might not be as lucky tonight. But, just as he is about to stand up, her harp music starts to fill the air.

Sheldon becomes glued to his spot, the music gently lulling him to sleep. Like before, he makes a mental note to leave as soon as he calms down. "Just a few minutes," he says. And, like before, it doesn't happen as he once again falls asleep outside Amy's door.


	3. Chapter 3

Their separation is getting harder every day. Sheldon wants to give Amy the space and time she asked for but feels the strong need to be near her. By the fifth night, he flat-out gives up resisting. No more brain acrobatics. No more code head-banging. No more bongos.

He decides to be careful though because he's sure Leonard will not allow him to continue with this coping mechanism and he definitely doesn't want to risk him calling his mother. He is a grown man and he can do whatever he pleases. So, like a teenager hiding something from his parent, he turns off the lights in his bedroom, pretends to sleep, and waits for his roommate to settle in for his nightly rest.

With a flashlight on his mouth, he gets a comic book and reads under the covers to pass the time. He does not even attempt to go to sleep anymore because he's certain now that the tricks will just be futile and that there is only one proven solution to his sleepytime problem.

The plan is to check in with Leonard after one hour. Sheldon is fairly confident that he can follow through because, after all, he is a pretty laid-back and patient guy.

But, of course, two comic books later, he proves himself wrong again. Barely fifteen minutes has passed and he starts pacing around his room. First, he puts his ears against the wall, trying to determine if his roommate has already powered off. He hears a rustling sound but that can be anything. To get a clearer idea of what's going on, he gets out of his room and stands in front of Leonard's door.

The lights are off. That's good, he thinks, just a few more minutes now.

At work earlier, Sheldon made sure that the smaller physicist would exert himself doing some physical activities so he'd pass out easier come bed time. He snatched his glasses and made Leonard chase him around the cafeteria for it. The poor thing bumped hilariously against tables, chairs, an elderly woman's bosom and ended up with his face on Raj's chicken pot pie. He also forced him to take a different and longer drive home, claiming that a vindictive-looking squirrel was stalking them.

Smirking at the memory of his clever ruse, Sheldon gently opens Leonard's door and tiptoes around his bed. He turns his flashlight on and positions it about a foot away from his roommate's eyes. Before Sheldon even gets the chance to observe his eyelids, Leonard stirs and shifts to the other side of the bed.

Startled by the sudden movement, Sheldon immediately drops to the ground, with his face to the floor, and remains as still as possible to avoid getting caught. "Even in sleep Leonard proves to be tedious," he tells himself. He counts up to three hundred Mississippi's before getting up.

He walks cautiously to the other side of the room and holds the flashlight over Leonard's eyes once more, a little farther this time. Satisfied that the latter is already in REM sleep, he leaves the room, picks up his sleeping bag and walks out of their apartment.

"Perfect timing," he says moments later as he spreads his sleeping bag outside door 314. He pauses to savor the first notes of her sad music that has been his solace for the past two nights and will continue to be until Amy comes to a decision about their relationship. He gets inside his sleeping bag, sets his phone alarm, and types a message to the harpist, who's been helping him sleep, hoping he could somehow do the same for her.

"Good night, my dear," the message says. He hears the faint beep of her phone, alerting her to the message and hears her stop playing, presumably to check her phone. He stares at his own device, wishing for a reply; nothing comes but, in its stead, a music that's not as gloomy as before fills his ears, followed by the voice he craves so much to hear.

"Someday," she sings slowly, "when I'm awfully low, when the world is cold, I will feel aglow…"

"Just thinking of you," Sheldon whispers. He closes his eyes, dreaming of the day she accepts the ring he bought her.

"And the way you look," they sing at the same time, their voices blending lightly but perfectly. "Tonight."

 _A/N: It's short, I know. It just feels right to end this part here but I do have at least two more chapters planned for this story .Thanks for the reviews._


	4. Chapter 4

Sheldon has already finished his pancake when Leonard came out of his room, still yawning and stretching from his sleep.

"Hey," Leonard says, "I had a dream last night. An alien entered my room and put something over my eyes, something bright, and then it disappeared. Odd, right?"

"How would I know what's odd for an alien to do?" he replies.

Leonard rolls his eyes, "Never mind. Anyway, you were quiet last night, you slept well?"

"Hmmm, better," Sheldon replies.

"Good for you."

"It's killing you to know what I did, right?" Sheldon says.

"No, I'm good," his roommate answers, wishing desperately that he be spared from some very early morning narrations of whatever craziness Sheldon did to sleep.

"Excellent 'cause I have no plans of telling you."

Leonard sighs, he needs to end the conversation now or he'll be trapped. "Great. Whatever floats your boat, Sheldon."

"Float my boat? I assure you, Leonard, a boat has nothing to do with it. Also, I don't have a boat."

"It's just an expression," he sighs. "Kind of like whatever helps you sleep at night."

Sheldon grins, amused by the aptness of his last statement, "oh, it does help me sleep."

"Oh-kay," Leonard says, eager to end the conversation. "I got to go prepare for work," he says finally and runs off to the bathroom.

The day goes by quickly and, as Sheldon expected, more difficult than the ones before. He thinks of a lot of things at any given time but, in their time apart, all his thoughts lead inevitably and uncontrollably to Amy. He knows he can no longer stand this separation so he makes a promise to himself that if she doesn't come around after two days, whether she's ready or not, he is taking action.

Amy , meanwhile, is not doing any better. That day, in fact, she surrenders, too—just a little bit by peeping in his office while he is in deep thought. _What I wouldn't do to have my fixed space in that brain of yours,_ she imagines herself telling him. She observes the tired look in his eyes, the slouch in his posture, and the sluggishness in his movements. The break is affecting him, too but she just has no idea how much.

She resolves to talk to him after two days, what she's going to tell him she's still not sure. They love each other, that much she's sure of, but she also knows that one of them loves the other more and it will not be fair to force the other to feel the same. She wants to feel loved the way she loves him and right now she's uncertain if he's capable.

Nevertheless, Amy is willing to give Sheldon a chance. She wants to know if he can love her maybe just a little more and if he can express it just a little better. She smiles, realizing that she is willing to settle for "just a little" but what can she do? She loves him so and not giving him a chance means also giving up her chance at happiness.

What Sheldon needs to do, he needs to figure out on his own though. She won't tell him what to do; she doesn't want to force it on him. How she's going to do make him come to that realization on his own is yet another thing she has to figure out.

She gets pulled out of her reverie by a text from Penny. "You up for girl's night?" the message says. Yes, that might help and her bestie could use some company, too, she muses as she sends an affirmative reply to Penny's request.

The hallway in Amy's apartment is silent that night, making Sheldon anxious. He is lying outside her door in his sleeping bag, thinking what could've gone wrong. Why is she not playing her harp? Perhaps she is no longer sad, which is a good thing, but it could also mean that she has moved on from him, the thought filling Sheldon's heart with more grief.

Or maybe it's because it's still early. Yes, that could be it, he convinces himself, she'll play later. Pushing all the worries at the back of his head, he closes his eyes and calms himself with the thought that Amy is only a few feet away from him. Soon, exhaustion catches up with him and he falls asleep.

But, Amy is nowhere near him at that moment. She is out discussing relationship troubles with Penny and Bernadette while trying to have fun. By the time Amy realizes how late it is, her vision is already blurry, her head spinning, and her movements unstable. She knows that consuming that much alcohol is not a good idea but she is trying to keep up with Penny and frankly she needs it, too.

They decide to leave the bar over an hour later and, since Penny is way more intoxicated than she is, she turned down Bernadette's offer to walk her to her door. In hindsight, she realizes as she reaches her floor, that she should have accepted the offer because she is swaying left and right as she walks.

Walking proves to be too difficult after a while. Upon reaching the corridor leading to her unit, she gives up walking entirely. She drops on all fours and starts crawling her way to the door.

Left, right, left, right, she chants in her head. She continues crawling with her eyes half-open until her hand bumps against something. She opens her eyes fully and with difficulty. It isn't something, she realizes; she bumped against man's foot inside a sleeping bag. She lets her eyes slowly scan the man's sleeping form although she actually already knows who it is. She will recognize that form, that scent anywhere, even if she's under the influence.

It's Sheldon, lying on his side in a characteristically stiff position. He appears to be in deep sleep.

A naughty smile registers on her face. "Hey, handsome," she says as she drags herself to be face-to-face with him. She lies down beside him, her face only inches away from his. She raises her hand and gingerly traces the outline of his face, reveling at the opportunity to be close to him again.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, her alcohol-addled brain refusing to make sense of the situation. He doesn't respond, his mind still peacefully in dreamland.

"Guarding my apartment, I see?" she giggles. "You make a very lousy guard. Why are you sleeping on-the-job?" she continues, tapping the tip of his nose with her index finger.

Still no response. He is really in deep sleep.

"Does prince charming need a kiss to wake up?" she muses, the alcohol making her bolder and more flirty than usual. She slides closer and closer until their noses are touching. She tilts her head slightly, and proceeds to plant a kiss on his lips.

"Hmmmm," she hums contentedly. She pulls back slightly and, with their lips still touching, whispers:

"I love you, Sheldon."


	5. Chapter 5

A wave of dizziness hits Amy as soon as she pulls away from Sheldon. Her throat constricts in a familiar pull while her stomach reacts with a painful squeeze. She tastes the beginnings of an acidic ascent through her mouth, bringing with it a sense of nausea and panic to her intoxicated brain.

"Uh-oh," she says, covering her mouth. In a rush of adrenaline, she manages to stand up, get her key, and open and close her apartment door. She reaches the bathroom in record speed and makes her way to the toilet just in time to retch the contents of her stomach.

The hurling goes on for about an hour with Amy barely conscious in each bout. So strong is the ejecting reflex that, along with the vomit, Amy's energy seems to drain out with her every move. And when at last it ends, the memory of how she got out of the bar and into her apartment has also left her.

"Ho-how did I get here?" she asks herself. She stands up and washes her face and mouth, her movements still clumsy from the effects of alcohol. She sees the mirror and laughs at the image before her: a woman with droopy eyes, reddish cheeks, swollen lips, and really wild hair. "Nice," she winks at the mirror, hiccupping a bit a she does so, "very attractive."

She sways her way to the living room where she spots her harp beside the couch. A smirk registers on her face as she succumbs to the irresistible invitation of the seductive instrument. "Alright, alright, I'll play."

Sheldon is smiling in his sleep outside Amy's apartment. He is having a very pleasant dream. In it, he is lying down with Amy and kissing her quite passionately. He hears a distant retching sound in the background and successfully ignores it for a while. But, when he is about to remove Amy's first cardigan, atrocious music begins to play in the background.

"The girl from Ipanema, goes...hic!" the familiar female voice sings, or rather hiccups to accompany the off-key harp music.

"From Ipanema, goes..walk…hic!" she tries again.

And again.

"Goes…hic! Hic! Hic!" she says before bursting in a fit of laughter.

The sound finally pulls an annoyed Sheldon out of his sleep. "What is happening?" he mutters, as the off-key music resumes playing. It does not take long before he realizes that Amy is drunk. "Dear Lord, I told her never to drink and play," he says, shaking his head left and right.

He gets out his phone and dials the number of the only person who'd surely be responsible for his girlfriend's current state. It is very late but she needs to be reprimanded right now.

"Hel-llow, Moonpie," a very drunk Penny answers. "You confessin' somethin' too? You didn't kiss another girl didn't ya?"

"Kiss another girl? Don't be absurd, Penny," Sheldon says. "What—"

"Of course," Penny says, cutting him off. "You wouldn't do that to Amy. But, then again you wouldn't do Amy either. So there's that."

"Do Amy? What? Like impersonate her? You know I couldn't do that. No one could ever be like Amy."

Sheldon hears her laugh on the other line. "Oh, Shelly. I'm hangin' up now. Sauvignon Blanc's callin'."

"Well, clearly, you are in no state—" he says just before the line went dead.

Sighing, Sheldon lies back down in his sleeping bag. He hears Amy still playing, hiccupping, and giggling. "At least, she's playing," he says, smiling a little at the bungled lyrics she's singing. He closes his eyes and licks his lips, tasting a hint of alcohol. "Curiouser and curiouser," he says as he goes back to sleep.

Amy wakes up the next morning with a terrible headache. She puts on a kettle and tries very hard to recall the events of the previous night. Vaguely, she remembers seeing Sheldon sleeping outside her door and kissing him. That's impossible, she thinks, maybe it's just a dream.

Nevertheless, she proceeds to her door. She turns the knob gently, fixing her eyes on the ground, hoping, or rather wishing to see him lying outside. She opens the door fully and sees—

Nothing.

No one.

A bit disappointed, she lifts her head to stare at the hallway corner, catching a glimpse of a blue plaid pajama-clad leg. Her heart skips a beat and she rubs her eyes to make sure. But, when she checks again, it's gone. It takes her a moment to process that, of course, the image is gone; the person has clearly turned around the corner. So, despite the headache, she forces herself to step out of her door and check the other side of the corridor, where she finds—

Her elderly neighbor, Laura, who is wearing a bright yellow robe that hurt Amy's eyes. Clearly, she isn't the person Amy saw earlier but whoever or whatever it was, it could easily have been just a figment of her imagination or of her alcohol-abused brain. Dismissing any hopes that Sheldon was really outside her door the night before, Amy forces a smile to her neighbor. "Good morning," she says.

"And good morning to you too, my dear," the older woman answers. "By the way, you better make sure your doors are locked properly, neighbors have been talking about a strange man lurking around the building at night."

"Oh my," she says, suddenly feeling scared about what could've happened if she was less careful last night. Thankfully, she remembers that her door was locked when she woke up that morning.

"Thanks for the reminder, Laura," she says as she walks back to her apartment.

 _A/N: She'll see him outside her door again for sure. I'm working on it. ;)_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I'm sorry this took sooo long. A lot of things happened (and are still happening) to me but I want to give this story a closure at least before the start of the new season so I really pushed myself to finish this one. Here goes._

"This is silly," Leonard mutters to himself. It is the middle of the night, and yet instead of resting in his room, he is outside somebody else's apartment building and sitting uncomfortably in his car—all because of Sheldon. Well, not Sheldon per se, but because of his concern for the person, who despite everything remains his best friend.

Penny would have called it bad luck; he calls it bad timing, an unfortunate event, which happened earlier that night after his body sent a signal to his brain that he needed to hydrate at that moment. So, off he went, feeling his way through their dark hallway to get a glass of water until his eye caught something. Vaguely, he remembered thinking that maybe he was in a dream, one of those weird alien nightmares he was having off late, because the silhouette looked so much like there was a giant insect tiptoeing inside their apartment: a praying mantis carrying a teeny tiny flash light and, for some reason, a sleeping bag. What a sight that was! And what a puzzling dream it would have been had he not come to his senses and realized that it was Sheldon sneaking out of their apartment. Just like that, curiosity and concern got the better of him. Discreetly, he tracked his friend's movement, which, thirty minutes later, led him outside Amy's building.

Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he starts running all the logical inquiries in his head. Have Amy reconciled with Sheldon? But why the secrecy? He asks himself.

"A-ha! Those two are doing experiments on us again. That could be it," he exclaims, settling for an easy answer to allow himself rest for the night. He moves to turn the car back but halts as pieces of evidence pile up in his mind against his theory.

If this is just an experiment, Sheldon wouldn't have been moping that day or the days before. Sure, there could be a lot of other reasons that could make Sheldon act that way but his behavior has been too raw, too off, and too annoying to be mere make-believe. Leonard recalls how Sheldon has taken leave of arranging the cereals according to fiber-content and ignored his breakfast schedule, surprising him with a very early serving of strawberry-flavored jello one morning. Or how Sheldon has formed a habit of drinking tea always with two cups on the table. Or how the physicists acts at night, trying to pacify himself to sleep.

However, if Sheldon and Amy aren't back together, what is Sheldon doing in her building at this hour? Leonard wonders. Is this the solution he has been bragging about, the one that helps him sleep?

"Oh, God. The sleeping bag!" Leonard quickly gets out of the car and heads off inside the building, as he begins to dread the possible troubles Sheldon could get into with what he's doing.

Unfortunately, trouble has already found Sheldon just as Leonard reaches the third floor.

"I am telling you for the last time, Officer. The woman inside this apartment is my girlfriend. We're just not in a good place right now," Sheldon says. He is sitting on the floor, with half his body still encased in the sleeping bag, looking like he was just roused from sleep by the officer.

The man in black uniform and cap towered over him. "Sir, I'm telling you, if you don't leave that spot, the next place you'll find yourself in will definitely be not good. You are making the occupants of this building feel unsecure."

Sheldon raises his voice, "Feel unsecure? Tell me, how is a man in pajamas, and might I add, Superman undershirt a threat to their security?"

The officer is about to retort when Leonard intervened. "O-officer, I'm sorry to bother you. But can you maybe just let this one go? I'm his friend and ah-I'll just take him home."

"Oh Leonard," Sheldon says, still half-sitting in the spot, "I didn't do anything wrong. Tell him, come on, tell him, I'm Amy's boyfriend."

Sighing, Leonard turns to the officer to convince him to ignore his friend but just as he starts to speak, the door beside them opens.

"What's happening?" Amy asks. "Sheldon? Leonard?" she continues, startled by the men in front of her.

The officer steps up and beats them to it. "Ma'am your neighbors place a call about a deranged man lurking in the building and we found this one, perfectly befitting the description, sleeping outside your door and claiming that he is your boyfriend."

Unprepared to see Amy, Sheldon remains frozen in his position. He just stares at her, feeling ashamed that he was caught outside her door, while Leonard stands in the corner to let the person speak.

"Ma'am," the officer asks, "do you know this man?"

Amy takes a second to look at Sheldon and notes his distressed appearance. "Yes, officer. I know him. He is my boyfriend."

"He is?" the officer asks, surprised that Sheldon was telling the truth and that he has a girlfriend.

"Yes, he is," Amy tells the officer, as she catches the hint of relief on Sheldon's face.

She turns back to the officer and says, "I am very sorry, Sir. I will take care of this and send my apologies to the neighbors for the inconvenience. I assure you this will never happen again."

"Ma'am, you can always file harassment complaints if needed," the officer suggested.

"That won't be necessary. Thank you very much, Sir," she says finally as the officer walks away.

Leonard, then, steps toward Amy. "I'm sorry, Amy. Let me take him home."

"Oh! I still need to sleep," Sheldon interjects, though still consciously avoiding Amy's eyes. "I promise I won't bother anyone. Please let me sleep here." He continues pleading to both Amy and Leonard.

"It's alright, Leonard." Amy says. "I'll just drive him home tomorrow morning."

"See? I can sleep here" Sheldon says, as he lies back down and proceeds to zip his sleeping bag.

"N-no, Sheldon," Leonard and Amy remark, with the former pulling him back up.

"But you just said I can sleep here," Sheldon pleads. "I am so sleepy. And tired."

"We all are," Leonard says. "You know, it's not too late to take back what you said earlier, Amy."

"It's fine Leonard," she answers. "I can handle him." Amy then helped Leonard pull Sheldon up. "Come on, Sheldon let's get you inside."

After Leonard left the two of them, Amy finds Sheldon already prepping the couch for his use. He has dark circles under his eyes, which are not unlike the ones she have under hers.

To say that Sheldon was caught off-guard by Amy's seeing him outside her door is an understatement. All he wanted to do that night was to enjoy what could be the last night he could hear her voice and lay claim to being her boyfriend, for he intended to talk to her the next day and ask what she has decided about their relationship.

But, he cannot do any of that tonight. Sheldon is sure that he is in no condition to handle a rejection, if Amy decides to go down that path, that night. So, he goes on to avoid looking her in the eyes and manages to say, "I am sorry, Amy" before burying his body, face included, under the blanket in her couch.

Nonetheless, Amy catches the pain in Sheldon's voice because, like him, she was surprised by what happened, more so with the realization that he must have been sleeping outside her door every night since she asked for space. She is also unsure on how to feel about it. But, when she told him that he could sleep there, she admits to herself that a part of her wants so badly to invite Sheldon to her bed, to cuddle him, and to tell him how much she loves him.

"That settles it, I guess," she whispers.

She enters her room and proceeds to lie down with her back from door on the far side of her bed, and makes another attempt at sleeping.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Her mattress bounced slightly, she realizes a few minutes later. She is about to turn around when she sees his hand sliding slowly on her waist, confirming her suspicion.

"Sheldon," she says, confused. "If you're doing this just to get me back, forget it. Just go to sleep."

He does not answer. Instead, he moves closer and wraps his arms around her waist.

"Sheldon," Amy continues.

"Actually, I'm not clear how this is gonna help me get you back," he says softly. "I'm doing this because I want to…but if it has that effect too then I'm just going to keep doing it."

Not knowing how to react, she lets him continue holding her.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I tried to control myself not to come here but," he whispers, "…you have no idea how much I miss you."

Feeling her resolve starting to give away, Amy allows some more moments to pass by, with her in his arms. He starts kissing her hair, making her shiver, and goes on to embrace her more possessively.

"Ah-I think I do know now, Sheldon," she says, adjusting his tightening grip around her stomach. "If you intend to keep going this way, you're gonna miss me mmmuch longer."

"Oh no," he says dejectedly. "You really are breaking up with me." He moved to remove his arms around her but Amy actually has already surrendered to him as he did to her, so, she stops him, laughing a bit as she did so.

"No, Sheldon. What I meant was you were hugging me a little too tightly," she explains and turns around to face him. "I know they don't look like it but these arms," she says as she moves his arms to envelope her again, "are strong."

"Of course, they are," he answers proudly while pulling her closer, "did you know that I am not only the brain but also the muscle in our group?"

"I know," she murmurs contentedly.

"Amy?"

"Hmm"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Sheldon." She looks up at him, smiles, and gives him a quick kiss on the lips. "Let's get a good night's sleep tonight."

"Agreed," he says, sealing his agreement with a more passionate good night kiss.

END


End file.
